Yours to Cherish
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Archaeologist Madeleine MacGillivray came to Akaroa to fulfill a promise. Six months, then she's gone. What she didn't count on was Dr. Gabriel Connelly—or falling for the one man she can never have.
Madeleine came to New Zealand for one reason: to fulfill a deathbed promise that seemed simple at the time. Six months in Akaroa, then she can return to her life. What she didn't expect was Gabe—charming, persistent, and dangerously easy to fall for.
Dr. Gabriel Connelly has always been drawn to mysterious women, but Madeleine is different. Despite the undeniable chemistry between them, she keeps him at arm's length, insisting they can only be friends. Something is driving her to keep her distance, and Gabe is determined to find out what.
As the months pass and their connection deepens, Madeleine faces an impossible choice: honor the promise that brought her here, or risk everything for a love she never saw coming. But some secrets have the power to destroy even the strongest bonds—and when the truth finally surfaces, it may be too late for both of them.
A story about promises that bind us, love that frees us, and the courage to choose your own path.
~Lantern Bay — a coastal haven where broken hearts heal and families find home~
—Lantern Bay—
- Yours to Give
- Yours to Treasure
- Yours to Cherish
- Yours to Keep
- Yours Forever
- Yours to Love
—Mackenzies—
- A Place Called Home
- Secrets at Parata Bay
- Escape to Shelter Springs
- What You See in the Stars
- Second Chance at Whisper Creek
- Summer at the Lakehouse Café
Excerpt
Gabe followed the dogs around the corner. Maddy was walking up the path from the beach but hadn’t yet seen him. Despite the time they’d spent together, she was still an enigma. She had the looks of a supermodel, the brains of a university professor, and the shy, delicate, untrusting heart of a beaten dog. He didn’t understand her, but he would. He never gave up on a beaten dog. He reached down and petted the two cocker spaniels—Stanley and Boo—who were most definitely not beaten, but instead, thoroughly spoiled.
“Come on, you two.” He looked up just as Maddy saw him. “Let’s go and meet our mysterious guest.”
They barked in agreement and trotted happily at his side as he walked down the lawn to where the grass turned into the sandy beach.
He stopped and petted the dogs but didn’t take his eyes off her. She looked different and, as she came nearer, he realized why. She was wearing a dress. It was the first time he’d seen her in anything but shorts and a shirt. The dress was neither new nor smart, but its vintage material draped around her long, lean body, and drifted aside with each step she took. And it was covered with flowers. Old-fashioned pink roses with trailing green stems and leaves.
“Maddy,” he said, trying, without success, to suppress a grin that he knew his siblings would have described as silly.
She gave him a wary smile. “Gabriel,” she said, before giving her attention to the two affectionate dogs who jumped around her, licking her hands and ankles. Gabe understood their impulse. It was all he could do not to press his lips to her uncertain ones, and coax them into certainty. Instead, he thrust his hands into his pockets to ensure he didn’t reach out to her, and formed his lips into a smile, rather than a kiss.
“Only my brother, Jonny, used to call me that.”
Her wary smile faltered once more, and she glanced away. But when she looked back at him, the smile had returned, firmer than before, as if she’d made a decision. “I like it. It suits you.”
They fell into step, the dogs bounding around them. As they turned a corner, Belendroit came into view, and she stopped abruptly.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
She shook her head. “It’s just as I’d imagined.”
He frowned. “You’ve imagined this place?”
“Yes.”
“What, since I invited you here?”
She shook her head but didn’t elaborate. Instead, she bent down and fussed over Boo, who was looking particularly beautiful with her adoring expression, and golden coat gleaming in the late afternoon sun.
He shrugged and decided to take a stab at the answer himself. “I guess it looks intriguing from the Backpackers. What with the lanterns always lit—day and night.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s an old family tradition which my mother insisted on continuing. Guiding lights for her family’s safe return home.”
He looked from the house back to her. The expression in her eyes was strange, unreadable, as if she were miles away, looking at him with new eyes. A shiver tracked down his spine. It was as if someone had walked over his grave. Even the two dogs, Stanley and Boo, had picked up on the atmosphere and Stanley, the more sensitive of the two, nudged his head against Maddy’s knee as if providing comfort. While Boo, always keen to move on when things became too soppy, found a half-chewed ball and dropped it at Gabe’s feet.
Glad of the interruption, Gabe picked up the ball and threw it toward the house. He was off with his aim, and it knocked over a pot, sending the flowers, earth, and terracotta shards everywhere. There were shrieks, a few choice words from his sisters, and a bellowing shout from his father.
Gabe shot Maddy a rueful glance. “Welcome to my family.”
***
